Corrugated sheet metal building construction



July 4, 1944.

J. M. BRINKER CORRUGATED SHEET METAL BUILDING CONSTRUCTION Filed July 6. 1942 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 July 4, 1944. J. M. BRINKER 2,352,884

CORRUGATED SHEET METAL BUILDING CONSTRUCTION Filed July e, 1942 2 sheets-sheet 2- Patented July 4 1944 Joseph M. Blinker, Washington, D. C., assignor to mizabeth M. Brinker, Washington, D. C.l

Application July 6, 1942, Serial No. 449,930

3Claims.

This inventiony relates to steel building construction in lwitten corrugated sheets of relatively light gauge steel form the basic material of which the various structural units are fabricated.

One of the objects of the invention is to proride hollow vertically corrugated sheet metal columns for the load hearing units, with a. novel assemblage of such columns, in plurality, to form the corners of the building.

Another object of the invention is the employment of such load bearing units in spaced relation bridged by horizontally corrugated sheets secured thereto.

A further object of the invention is the provision of a wall construclion from three sided columnar units, vertically corrugated and laterally telescoped one within the other so that together they form an expansible wall adapted to be spread or contracted to fit between iixed vertical units. as between window frames or a window frame and door frame.

Still another object f the invention is a wall structure as described, preliminarily expansible, andthenxedinlateral dimensionsandreinforced by the application and securing thereto of horizontally corrugated metal sheets.

Another object of the invention is the construction of joists, rafters and purlins in the form of twin ridged members of longitudinally corrugated sheet metal in which load bearing strength is derivedfrom thedepthofthe ridges.

A further object of the invention is to provide attic joists, each of twin ridged corrugated crosssection as described, in which the lower end poriOn is bent upwardly at the angle of the roof pitch and reversely ridged, forming with the horizontal portion of the joist a pocket receiv-A A further object of the invention is a floor construction twin rdged jOStS laid in contiguous adjacency andy covered with concrete of such thickness as to extend above the ridges of said joists to the desired depth.

Another'object of the invention is a foundation corner construction in lwhich the floor joist is secured to the concrete foundation by a lag screw anchored to a plug in the concrete, and in which the wall channel is secured to the floor by a. screw passing through said channella plug or aperture in the concrete vdoor above a ridge of the joist and into the metal of said ridge whereby a metal to metal securing of the wall channel is obtained.

Another object of the invention is an alternative foundation construction in which the steel wall construction of the building is surrounded in spaced relation by a wall of corrugated sheet metal in the excavation, the space between the building wall and said surrounding wall being lled with a suitable moisture-proof material.

Other objects of the invention will appear as the following description of a preferred and practical embodiment thereof proceeds.

In the drawings which accompany and form a part of the following specification and through- `out the several gures of which the same characters of reference have been employed to designate identical parts:

-wall construction;

Figure 4 is a perspective view of a modled form of wall construction;

Figure 5 is a perspective view showing the lapping upper ends of abutting roof rafters;

Figure 6 is a perspective view showing the root rafter pocket formed at the end of an attic joist;

Figure 7 is a vertical section showing a detail of ceiling construction;

Figure 8 is a vertical section showing a detail of the foundation corner;

Figure 9 is'a horizontal 'sectionthrough a corner of the building;

Figure 10 is a horizontal section through an a1- temative form of foundation construction;

Referring now in detail to the several figures,

numeral I represents the corner construction as rugations extending in a vertical or load bearing direction. These columns are arranged as shown. with the column 2 at the outside corner and the columns 3 and 4 lying 'respectively in the front and side Wall. 'At their bottom ends the columns rest in sheet metal channel members I and l, said channel members lying at right angles on the iloor 1, and being in abutting relation, as indicated by thebroken line 3 in Figure 9, the columns 2 and 4 being in the channel i, while the column 3 is in the end of the channel I. An inner right angular strip of corrugated sheet metal Il extends vertically throughout the height of the room, being secured to the adjacent sides of the columns 3 and 4 by suitable means such as Parker Kalon screws which themselves perforate the metal and thread themselves through the perforations, screwing the contacting parts securely together. Spot welding may also be used as a substitute or an adjunct to the screws.

At suitable intervals between the corners of the building other single vertically corrugated columns, such as the column II shown in Figure 9, are placed upright in the base channels and bridged by the horizontally corrugated outer wall sheets l2, these being suitably secured either by screws or spot welding. An outer vertically corrugated right angular strip encloses the outer wall sheets I2 at the corner, being secured thereto and acting to bind the corner columns 2, 3 and l together on the outside. Any suitable wall sheet such as the horizontally corrugated metal sheets I3 are secured against the inside of the columns bridging the space therebetween and an inside vertically corrugated corner strip Il is employed to tie the sheets I3 together. The sheets I3 and including the inside angle strip I4 are covered with any suitable interior finishing plastic.

The outside wall surface may also be covered with any suitable finishing plastic or other material, but is preferably covered by thin stone veneer blocks secured thereto by a suitable plastic cement which keys itself to the horizontal corrugations of the metal sheets I2.

An alternative form of wall construction is shown in Figure 4, in which quadrilateral columns are substituted by the three sided or U- shaped vertical columns I6 which telescope one within the other, as illustrated in Figure 4. 'I'his type of wall is particularly desirable between xed vertical portions of the building, such as spaced window frames or a spaced door and window frame, inasmuch as the columns I6 may be telescoped laterally inwardly or outwardly, thus expanding the wall unit so as to llt any space which it is designed to bridge. It is preferred to have the open side of the final column closed by a reversely arranged telescopic column I1, which in general may be made shallower in lateral depth than the columns I6. For buildings not exceeding one story in height such a wall construction is of adequate rigidity in the absence of any further reinforcement but if the height of the building exceeds one story it is preferred to reinforce the columns by an outer sheet Il of horizontally corrugated sheet metal secured thereto, or both an inner and outer sheet such as is shown in connection with Figure 3.

Referring now to the roof, iloor and ceiling construction. the unit element is a joist, rafter, or purlin having thin ridges with a valley between and lateral flanges at the base of the ridges. In Figure 8, in which two floor joists I3 are shown, the ridges are represented at 2l and 2|, the intermediate valley at 22 and the lateral Il flanges at 23 and 26. In Figure 6 which shows aceilingioistsimilarpartsaredesignatedby the same reference characters and the same is true of the roof rafters, one of which is shown in detail in Figure 5.

Referringnowmparticularto the floor, itis formed of the noor joists Il which are arranged in lapping continuity so that the entire floor surface represents a series of parallel ridges and valleys. Onthismetallicbaseaslab 25 of concrete is poured to such depth as to provide suitable thickness of concrete over the ridges I9. The concrete which fills the valleys 22 forms depthwise ribs for which the metallic base forms adequate reinforcement.

The attic joiists 26 rest at their opposite ends upon channels 21 which overlie the upper ends of the columns il orthe columns I6, as the case may be. Tim opposite ends 21 of said attic joists are bent upwardly at an oblique angle corresponding to the pitch angle of the roof and the ridges are reversely pressed, as indicated at 2l and 29 in Figure 6. The uptumed ends 21 form with the horizontal portion of the Joist 26, a pocket receiving the lower ends of the roof rafters 23, the reverse direction of the ridges 2l and 2l fitting the ridges 2l and 2l of the roof rafters in telescopic relation. Thus, the roof rafters are rigidly retained at their lower ends with the impossibility 'of their changing their pitch angle under the load of the superimposed roofing material or of snow. The upper abutting ends of the roof rafters 30 on opposite sides of the roof at the peak, are slitted and cut so that the tops 3i and 32 of the overlying rafters are angularly bent upon the ridges of the underlying rafters and the tops 33 of the ridges of the underlying roof rafters are angularly bent to lie within the ridges of the overlying roof rafters and in contact therewith. The end portions 34 and 35, respectively, of the overlying and underlying flanges are similarly bent. The sides of the ridges at the peak are also in lapped relation. The lapping tops of the ridges and flanges are preferably secured by the screws 38, while the lapping sides of the ridges are preferably spot welded together. Thus, a rigid peak structure is produced in a similar eillcient and economical manner.

Purlins 31 similar in cross-section to the rafters and joists rest upon the roof rafters longitudinally of the roof, being preferably secured either by screws or spot welding. Said purlins support the roofing sheets 33, the latter being arranged with their corrugations preferably running in a direction from peak to eaves. The purlins 31 are so spaced as to lie beneath the lapping edges 3l of the roong sheets, the latter being secured to the purlins by screws penetrating into the ridges of the purlin's. In Figure 1 the roofing sheets are shown covered with any suitable roofing material Il, such for example as composition shingles. If the attic is to remain unfloored, the attic joists 26 may be arranged in spaced relation, as shown in Figure '1. the spaces between adjacent joists being bridged by the smooth metal sheets 4I. The under sides of said joists are also covered with smooth metal sheets 42, the gauge of the latter being somewhat thinner than the thickness of the sheets 4I. An uninterrupted metallic ceiling is thus produced which may be covered on the lower side with any suitable finishing plastic or other material.

Reference is now made tothe method of anchoring the floor to the foundation and the vertical wall structure to the floor. Figure 2 shows a concrete foundation composed of the cement blocks 43 which have the conventional core holes 44. The core holes in the top corner blocks are plugged with a substance such as the woodeny plug 45 which can be penetrated by a lag screw 4I. The end floor joist I9 is placed with its end resting upon the corner block 43 and the lag screw 46 is screwed through the metal of said joist at the bottom of the valley 22 and into the wooden plug 45. A form is then put up at the end of this floor joist and the concrete floor is poured, a wooden plug 41 being imbedded in the concrete above one of the ridges 20 or 2|. This plug may be left in or it may be withdrawn, leaving a hole in the concrete extending down to the metal of the floor joist. The base channel 6 is then laid upon the concrete floor overlying the plug 41 or the hole vacated by said plug. A lag screw is then sunk through the metal of the channel i through the wooden plug 41 or the hole vacated by said plug and through the top of the underlying ridge of the iioor joist. Thus, there is a metal to metal anchorage between the channel 6 and the floor joist and an anchorage betweeen the floor joist and the underlying cement block foundation. It will be understood that the columns of the building walls are suitably secured to the base channel, and thus the entire wall unit is rigidly anchored to the foundation.

In Figure l an alternative foundation structure is shown, in which the building wall including.V the vertically corrugated columns 4B and 49,2 together with the bridging outer plate 50 extend down to the bottom of the excavation. It is preferred that those portions of the plates 50 which extend below grade be arranged with the corrugations vertical. The excavation represented by the lines 5| and 52 in Figure 10 is sufficiently larger than the building so that the vertically corrugated plates 53 and 54 can be supported within the excavation in spaced relation to the outer walls of the building and extending up to the top of the excavation. 'I'he intervening space between the building walls and the plates 5|` and 52 is then lled with molten 'asphalt or any other suitable moisture impervious composition.

The interior partitions of the building, not shown, 'are similar in construction to the wall structure shown in Figure 3, excepting that the columns' may be of shallower depth and the bridgingfI sheets may be smooth, if desired. 'Ihe partition walls are erected in channels secured to the floor, similar to the channel 6, and are capped by channels similar to the channel 21.

While I have in the above description dened what I believe to be a preferred and practical embodiment of the invention, it will be understood to those skilled in the art that the specic details of construction and arrangement of parts as shown and described` are by way of example and not to be construed as limiting the scope of the invention which is dened in the appended claims.

What I claim as my invention is:

l. Metallic roof truss construction comprising a joist of corrugated sheet metal having the opposite ends bent up at an acute angle equal to the pitch angle of the roof, and a pair ot roof rafters of corrugated sheet metal having their lower ends pocketed within the acute angular portions of said joist and having their upper ends lapped and secured, the corrugations of said joist and rafters extending longitudinally of said members.

2. Metallic roof truss construction comprising a base joist of corrugated sheet metal formed with spaced ridges in the depth direction and lateral flanges, having its opposite end portions upturned at an acute angle equal to the pitch angle of the roof, the ridges in said upturned portions being inverted, and a pair of roof rafters of corrugated sheet metal similarly formed with spaced ridges in a depth direction and lateral nanges, having their lower ends seated in the apices of said acute angles and their lower portions congruently engaging said upturned ends, the upper ends of said rafters being Alapped and secured.

3. Metal roof construction comprising a plurality of spaced truss members each comprising a base joist of corrugated sheet metal formed with spaced ridges and lateral flanges, having its opposite end portions upturned at an acute angle to the pitch angle of the roof, with the ridges of said portions inverted, and a `pair of roof rafters of corrugated sheet metal similarly formed with spaced ridges and lateral flanges, having their lower ends seated in the apices of said acute angles and their lower portions congruently engaging said upturned end portions, the upper ends of said rafters being lapped and secured, said ridges and said corrugations extending longitudinally of said members, spaced purlins supported upon said rafter perpendicular thereto, each being of corrugated sheet metal with spaced longitudinal ridges and lateral flanges, and corrugated metal sheets upon said purlins and secured thereto.

JOSEPH M. BRINKER. 

